


She's a Knockout

by Aegann



Category: Monster Prom (Visual Novel)
Genre: Fluff, Gender-neutral Reader, Hurt/Comfort, Other, Reader-Insert, Sleepy Cuddles, Sparring, the lack of dahlia-centric fics compared to the other ROs is criminal, this is my first actual fic so feedback is appreciated lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:15:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29449119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aegann/pseuds/Aegann
Summary: Your big blue icy-hot crush asks you to train with her. Are you just her punching bag, or is there something more?
Relationships: Dahlia Aquino/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	She's a Knockout

Camp had been relatively peaceful that day; small birds flitted between the boughs of the pines, the canopy serving as a safe haven from the typical chaos that ensued in the woods below. The sun hung low in the sky as it began to set, blanketing the treetops in an orange haze. While this quietude would typically be disrupted by your classmates, most of your fellow campers opted to spend their evening at the lake, leaving you and your crush alone in the sanctum of the now quiet forest.

Unfortunately, the serenity was quickly shattered by a loud crack which sent the birds flying and pine needles raining.

You dusted a few needles off your shoulder as Dahlia rolled her shoulder after landing the blow that sent you flying. She really wanted to spar today, and you opted to help her since boulders and century-old trees were not ideal trainers.

Well, neither were you. Even with magic, you could still barely keep up with her blows and kicks to your body, barely able to get another ward up before she decked you again. But it's still sure one hell of an excuse to spend precious time bonding with this big blue babe.

These thoughts quickly left your mind as Dahlia barreled towards you. You barely caught the wild glint in her eyes as you ducked and rolled under her girthy arm, hearing a resounding crack as her fist met the tree. Having regained your footing, you send a strike to her upper back, which simply glances off her broad shoulder. You're lost in thought again as you see how her muscles ripple under her blue skin.

Dahlia turned and charged again, winding up her arm for another punch. Dipping to the right, you feel her huge fist fly by your head as you step forward and aim for her diaphragm; however, your relatively puny fist does almost nothing to the impenetrable wall of muscle. Suddenly, you feel the ground fall out from beneath you as your legs are literally swept away. You hit the ground hard with a sputter.

“C’mon Red, you should know better than to try and attack my core,” Dahlia looked straight down at you, “even with magic, you’ll never be able to penetrate my huge, toned muscles.” She clicked her tongue and winked at you.

You opened your mouth to quip, but nothing but a wheeze came out. 

Dahlia gave you a pitiful look as you coughed and struggled to sit up, extending a hand for you to take, for you to get on your feet again. You took her hand, paying extra attention to just how much larger her hand was as it held yours. She pulled you up, surprisingly gentle after the beatdown you had just received, and settled her other hand on your back to steady you as you wobbled on your own two feet. The two of you were so close, you could almost feel the amused laughs that shook her chest.

“Don't worry, once I’m done with you, you’ll be a great sparring partner!” Dahlia punctuated with a slap to your upper back, causing your lungs even more distress.

You considered pointing out that the only other “sparring partners” Dahlia’s had at camp are just huge inanimate objects, but opted to say nothing on the matter. “Can we go back to camp, so I can at least lay down somewhere?”

Dahlia grunted in affirmation, and, before you can even turn around to head back, lifts you up with one arm, throwing you over her left shoulder. You choked on a meek noise that was squeezed out of you as you were swung over her back, thankful that your blush was being hidden behind her broad shoulders. Dahlia rarely picked you up, so when she did it really worked you up. 

The walk back to camp was surprisingly uneventful; everyone was still probably at the lake trying to drown each other or whatever, because nobody saw Dahlia handling you like timber, or you trying your hardest to not stare at her butt as you watched her walk below you. She crouched down, unzipping something, and crawling into a tent, _her_ tent. _Holy shit she brought you to her tent._ For an extreme camper like Dahlia, this is, like, 2nd base for her.

Carefully pulling you off her shoulder and onto a sleeping bag, Dahlia ruffled your hair, smiling. “There we go, now you can rest while I treat your wounds!” She turned to grab bandages and various ointments from her massive backpack, only to turn back to see your head turned away, trying in vain to hide your flushed face. You were praying (ironically) for this to be an attempt at her showing you genuine affection, for this to be on purpose.

“Red? Are you okay?”

“I’m just... worried this might sting,” you swiftly lied.

Dahlia laughed again, “I just beat you to a damn pulp, and you're worried about that?” She grabbed your right arm, holding it carefully by the wrist, and started expertly cleaning and dressing the shallow scrapes on your elbow. “You’re a real funny one, Red.”

The two of you shared a comfortable silence as Dahlia attended to you, making sure to leave no cut or scrape untreated. Of course, none of these wounds were serious at all, other than causing mild discomfort… but dammit all to hell if it wasn’t the cutest shit you’ve ever seen. Not that Dahlia isn’t upfront about her affections, she isn’t afraid to openly and shamelessly flirt in public (typically towards Liam of all people, though you’ve had your own fair share of her rather crass and often conflicting compliments); but this was entirely different, entirely private, just her being compassionate instead of trying to impress anyone.

You wanted to have more moments like this with her.

Unfortunately, the current moment had to end as Dahlia leaned back to inspect her handiwork. “Well, how's my bandage wrapping technique, Red? Pretty good huh? I always treat my own soldiers when they get wounded so… I’ve got a lot of practice.” 

Experimentally, you moved your arms up and down, testing the tightness of the bandages. “Yeah, it’s perfect. Thanks, Dahlia.”

“Welp,” Dahlia stood up, stretching her back and arms, “I don’t know about you but, I worked up quite an appetite after thoroughly defeating you in combat. We should go grab some dinner and—”

“What? Dahlia, I can barely stand! And you want me to walk all the way to the mess hall?”

Dahlia paused. “Well, I—”

“I’m not letting you carry me to dinner.” You rolled over, shoving Dahlia’s pillow in your face in protest. “Just… just let me sleep.”

You hear Dahlia hum, taken aback by the interruption. “Come on Red, you’re going to stay weak forever if you don’t eat properly! Especially after exerting yourself during training like that!”

Even still, your entire body was feeling more and more sore by the minute. You weren’t too keen on getting up for the next 10 hours or so.

“Okay okay, I get it,” Dahlia started, “I’m still gonna go to dinner though… just… stay here, okay Red?” She unzipped her tent, and shot a wink at you before leaving. “I’ll be back.”

You blinked, and laid back down. You were surely too tired to get up, but simultaneously not tired enough to sleep quite yet, so your only method of passing time was idly looking at your phone, checking your social media feeds and doing a cursory study of some exercise blogs; besides, if you're this serious about spending time with Dahlia, it was necessary to know all you can about her interests. You make a mental note to at least make a custom workout playlist for her, with music from all her favorite pop artists and animes… leave it up to you to come up with some sappy way to show your love to Dahlia instead of studying up on methods to build muscle and stamina.

You were taken aback when you heard the tent being unzipped so soon. Not only had Dahlia eaten presumably twice her body weight in food, but she had also gone to shower and dry her long hair, which was rolled tight into a bun, in a little under half an hour. She had even changed into her sleep clothes, which was just a soft grey shirt and baggy shorts. 

“Well, that was fast.”

“What can I say, Dahlia Aquino is a well oiled, efficient, spaghetti-eating machine,” she bragged, and looked to you while producing a small tupperware container, “now, _eat_.”

Despite telling you to eat the mess hall spaghetti in a bloodcurdling growl, you were once again blindsided by her act of kindness. “Dahlia… you didn't have to—”

“I said to eat Red, come on!” Dahlia looked to the side… was that a blush, or a trick of the light? “I made you train with me, the least I could do is steal some food for ya,” she elaborated, rubbing her neck.

“Dahlia, I’m the one who offered to help you train in the first place.”

“Well then consider this as a reward for sparring with me.” Dahlia’s blush was replaced with her typical smug demeanor. “Who knows, maybe if you stick around, I can reward you in… other ways.”

You choked on your spaghetti. Again, this kind of shamelessness was nothing new for Dahlia, but it still got you hot under the collar without fail. “Well then,” you cleared your throat, “two can play at that game… I’ll do favors for you too!”

Dahlia leaned forward in interest. “Like what?”

“Well… after workouts, I could massage your back and shoulders. Maybe you would relax a bit for once!” You bit your lip, “...I could, give you one right now, maybe?”

Dahlia gave you a pointed look.

“After I finish eating, of course!” Determined, you began to scarf down your tupperware spaghetti, which was a little cold, but that wouldn't deter you after promising to massage Dahlia’s toned back. You can't remember a time when you ate with such speed, tenacity, and _need_. 

“Wow Red, you should enter eating competitions! I could be your inspiringly sexy coach!”

Dahlia’s words fell on deaf ears as you focused on finishing the last few bites of your dinner; you were going to have the worst indigestion from this but you _so_ did not care. ”Okay, now turn around,” you commanded, still catching your breath.

You sat up, being sure to do so slowly as to not exacerbate your soreness, and kneeled behind Dahlia, who was sitting with crossed legs in front of you. It was a bit disappointing that her long hair was up, since you couldn't tenderly brush it out of the way if it wasn't down. Bringing your hands to her upper back, you began to rub circles into her firm shoulders with your thumbs. Dahlia said nothing, just giving a contented sigh as her shoulders lowered. God, how did you get so lucky today: you had a sparring match with your crush, only for her to practically pamper you afterwards, and now you're helping her wind down after a long day. 

This day couldn't get any better, you think, but you suppose that's up to what you and Dahlia decide to do next.

Snapping back to reality, you turn your attention back to rubbing Dahlia’s back. You start running your hands up and down the middle of her back, pressing down with your palms. Even through her soft sleep shirt, you can feel the hardened muscles that spanned across her shoulder blades, feeling them relax as you massaged. Finally, you went to rub the top of her shoulders, satisfied to hear her sigh again.

“I’m gonna be real with you Red, having you do this for me is making me tired as hell.” Dahlia turned to look at you, and then yawned and stretched. “Do ya want me to take me back to your tent?”

This was it. This was your fucking chance.

You placed your hand back on her shoulder, making eye contact this time. “No… I want to spend tonight with you, Dahlia.” You faltered a bit, “of course, if that's okay with you.”

Dahlia didn't answer, simply leaned towards you. “You know I only have one sleeping bag?” she teased lowly.

“Of course I know that, why else would I have asked?”

Dahlia’s serious expression was immediately wiped away by her raucous laughter. “It's about time you were upfront with me, Red! Man, you're so tricky to read sometimes,” she quipped as she opened her sleeping bag and got comfortable. Looking to you, she opened her arms; “Now, come here so we can finally get some sleep.”

Despite how exciting (and albeit a bit embarrassing) the invitation was, you were also as exhausted as Dahlia was, and so you crawled into the bag with her, abashedly settling your head on one of her thick upper arms as she went to turn off her lantern. After it went dark, all you could see were bright yellow eyes looking down at you, probably still able to see your reddening face in the dark. You felt her chest heave as she stifled an amused laugh, before reaching her free arm over you to pull your smaller form into an embrace.

It took you a moment to catch your breath as you were being practically smothered— not that you minded, of course, since you haven't felt this comfortable and safe since… too long. Being so close, every inhale carried her scent with it, smelling the bodywash she had used that night. Letting out a sigh, you felt for her waist and pulled her even closer to you, sleepily nuzzling your face into her chest. 

How you didn't notice she wasn't wearing a bra earlier, you’ll never know. You supposed that it was more comfortable for the both of you that way anyways. 

The amount of physical (and emotional) exertion from the day really did take a toll on you as you quickly began to fall asleep in Dahlia’s warm embrace. She seemed to be faring similarly, quietly mumbling a “g’night” and instinctively wrapping her tail around one of your legs. Being pressed up against her chest, you could hear her breathing even and her heartbeat settle as she finally relaxed herself enough to sleep.

You mumbled a goodnight back, and decided that you're definitely gonna let her beat you up more often.

**Author's Note:**

> Frankly, I am not much of a narrative fiction writer, so any feedback (grammar, pacing, dialogue especially, formatting, tagging, etc.) is appreciated! Thank you for reading :')


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